Issue Position: Protecting Social Security

Issue Position

Issue Position: Protecting Social Security

"Social Security is a sacred covenant with our seniors. I will never allow Congress or the President to gamble our retirement security on dangerous privatizations schemes. We can fix Social Security without privatizing it, and we will." -Congressman Tom Udall

Since the inception of the Social Security program, it has lifted millions of senior citizens out of poverty and provided security for their retirement. I believe that we need to strengthen Social Security rather than drain its resources and allow for a risky privatization program.

When it comes to Social Security, many critics won't take "yes" for an answer. They seize on and exaggerate any bad news about Social Security in order to make it seem like we face an immediate crisis that requires radical change. The truth is that we have more than three decades before our current system might face trouble. Lawmakers have faced this problem before. In the early 1980s, many commentators claimed that Social Security was in crisis, and some called for dramatic changes that would have undermined the system's core goals. At that time, members of both parties came together and agreed on a program of pragmatic changes that ensured the solvency of the system for decades.

A privatization plan would essentially destroy Social Security as we know it. Social Security would go from a public system of social insurance to a private system for subsidizing individual investment. It would also require that America borrow more than $2 trillion, a move that would undermine our economic security. Fortunately, that plan seems to have been forgotten, for now. However, I will continue to protect Social Security from privatization schemes and to make the sorts of changes that will preserve the system for generations to come.

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